Published 23:52, July the 13th, 2009
Celebrating Jacobs’ place in city
GREENWICH VILLAGE. The Greenwich Village street celebrated by Jane Jacobs in her seminal book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” was renamed yesterday in the activist’s honor.
Observing the block she moved to in 1948, on Hudson Street, between West 11th and Perry streets — with its low-scale buildings and diversity of uses — fueled her fight against Robert Moses’ push to bulldoze the neighborhood for an expressway.
Even though Jacobs left for Canada in 1968, her legacy lived on yesterday. As City Council Speaker Christine Quinn unveiled the sign, Jacobs-look-alikes, donning wigs and her trademark glasses, voiced their anger with the Bloomberg administration’s Coney Island plans.
“I think Jane Jacobs would be very happy the Coney Island folks are here,” Quinn said.
Quinn said that phone calls are flooding City Hall urging the city to expand the area designated for amusements.